Local developer Zachry Hospitality has added a five-to-six-story office building to its Hemisfair project plans, upping its overall budget from $165 million to $200 million.
The new addition is an answer to the increasing demand for more downtown office space, Hemisfair officials said.
The five-acre project will likely more than double the amount of office space in the entire project, bringing it to between 100,000 and 200,000 sq. ft. About 60,000 sq. ft. of office space was already planned to go inside the boutique hotel Zachry is building there.
Construction on the class A office building will start in summer 2018 and is expected to be completed in 2021, Hemisfair Director of Real Estate Omar Gonzalez told the Rivard Report on Friday. Construction on Civic Park and surrounding projects will be paused during the city’s Tricentennial celebrations in May 2018 and pick up again in July, Gonzalez said.
Renderings for the office building will be released on Thursday, after City Council votes on the plan.
City officials hope that the increased office space, along with the rest of the Hemisfair development plans, will reinvigorate downtown and better connect the park to nearby amenities.
“There’s so much value that [density] brings,” Gonzalez said, “and I think once things are built and you see it and can feel it, it’s going to be amazing.”
As part of its plans to develop the northwest quadrant of Hemisfair, Zachry also will build an 18-story, 200-room boutique hotel and an 8,800 sq. ft. “urban market” that will feature food stalls from about a dozen or so vendors.
The NRP Group, a multifamily developer, also has plans for the park’s northwest corner, where it is building a 380-unit apartment building.
Another residential project by local developer AREA Real Estate will bring a 163-unit apartment building to the perimeter of the park. The project includes 180 parking spaces for tenants and 238 public spaces for park visitors and at least 3,200 square feet of street-level retail/restaurant space. At least 10% of all housing units for both projects will be reserved for more affordable, workforce housing.
“This is a residential first, mixed-use development designed to enhance our urban core into a livable urban district that has developments around the open park space,” said Hemisfair CEO Andres Andujar.
Hemisfair has been working to ensure that development plans are compatible with several of the city’s long-range plans such as the City’s comprehensive plan, SA Tomorrow, and the Alamo Master Plan, said Hemisfair Communications Manager Drew Hicks.
City Council will vote on the new plans next Thursday which would allow the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corp., which operates Hemisfair, to lease the five-acre plot to Zachry and involve the City and Zachry constructing an underground, 800-space parking garage under the development. The City, which would own the garage, would control 600 of those spots and Zachry would operate the rest.
Also pending Council approval Thursday is the creation of a new Hemisfair tax increment reinvestment zone, which means property taxes from the area could go to HPARC to pay for park improvements.
With expanded and improved parkland and mixed-use amenities drawing more visitors, residents, and workers, Hemisfair will continue to blossom over the next few years, Hicks said. The overall goal, he added, is to make it a destination for tourists and “a place for locals” – eventually turning the Hemisfair district back into a neighborhood, as it once was.
I am super excited for the Zachry/NRP team to take the next step. Hemisfair is a world class place and when these next projects are completed will be a huge step forward for our CBD in terms of attracting more locals to go alongside of our thriving tourist economy.
It seems like the actual park keeps getting smaller and smaller. Do we really need to give up our limited green park space for more hotels and offices? The most limited commodity downtown is public grass/park areas. Let’s start talking about what buildings, parking lots, and sidewalks w can remove and replace with grass. Hearing about more hotels and buildings in the park is getting depressing.
I agree. It appears revisioning Hemisfair has been less about the people and more about the profits. Once again, and probably from the start.
@ R.Garcia and RobertRobert:
Dedicated parkland was redrawn and increased within the district to over 18 acres in the State house in 2013. Since then, the ratio of park to development has not changed. These plans have been vetted and approved in hundreds of public meetings over the course of several years. You aren’t hearing about additional “buildings” in the park, rather, announcements of the contractors and operators who have been selected as the project progresses.
Development has always been necessary to pay for initial construction, maintenance, activation, and perpetual upkeep of a world-class park because the municipality does not want to foot the bill. Unless the City or a private donor wants to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for redevelopment of a 90+acre site, a financial stream is simply required.
In addition to a financial stream, residential & commercial development provides the parks with adequate parking, built in visitors, and ground-floor amenities like cafes and bars that enhance the park experience for everyone.
The simple fact is there are plenty of cafes, bars and hotels already. Not enough green space.
I agree that there is not enough green space, but not that there “are plenty” of commercial amenities on site. Cafes, bars, and amenities were overwhelmingly requested by the thousands of San Antonio residents who weighed in during public design forums from 2011 – 2014. Each time there is a request for proposals, dozens of local businesses show interest and compete on operating at Hemisfair. On top of that, economic studies show demand for cafes, bars, hotels, retail, residential, and office space on site. That evidence would suggest that there are not “plenty of cafes, bars, and hotels already.”
Either way, you are in luck because the folks planning Hemisfair are not sacrificing one for the other. Usable green space is tripling. The size of the site is so large — over 90 acres total, that we can have it all. I encourage you to check out their plans on the hemisfair website. Those guys have done their research and are working hard to deliver the people’s wishes.
Can we still call it a park when it’s full of buildings?